Ernest Moore (1917-1969) and Olive Mary Wheatland (1922-2008).
My maternal grandparents.
Ernest Moore – who in later years would be known as Tony – was born on 24 November 1917 at Donaghmore, near Dungannon, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. His parents were John Moore and Joanna Rainey.
He enlisted in the Irish Guards, 1st Battalion, as a guardsman at Omagh on 17 July 1936. His main role in the army was a lorry driver. He’d previously been employed as a weaver.
On 6 January 1937 he was posted to Egypt, an engagement that lasted until 16 December 1938. During this time the Battalion was sent to Palestine for three months to assist with internal security duties – a thankless task that involved trying to keep some semblance of peace between Arabs and Jews. Ernest caught malaria there and spent more than 20 days in hospital being treated.
Based at home until 6 April 1940, Ernest joined the battalion when it was posted as part of the North West Expeditionary Force to northern Norway. The men served there until June 1940 as part of the 24th Guards Brigade. Designed to combat Hitler’s invasion of the country, it proved to be controversial and at times disastrous for the allies with the Germans finally taking control of the country.
In May 1940, commanders were keen to bolster forces around the coastal settlement of Bodo in Norway so the Irish Guards were ordered on to the Chobry, a Polish transport ship, in order to take them there in convoy. After a series of delays, the Chobry put to sea in the evening off the southern Lofoten islands but was followed by a German observation aircraft. Later, most men went below to eat, sleep and prepare for the landing.
At around midnight, a number of German Heinkels bombed the ship. The War Diary reported blandly: “00.15hrs 15th May, HMT Chobry bombed and set on fire. Ship abandoned.”
One officer reported that with the blast “the cabins collapsed like a pack of cards, lights went out, the whole of the top decks amidships were immediately ablaze and very soon the main staircase seemed to have disappeared.”
The Battalion was ordered up on deck. Fire continued to blaze, some of the lifeboats could not be lowered and those men who could not get in those that were had to wait for the escort to come and rescue them.
The vessels Stork and Wolverine rescued around 700 men despite enemy aircraft remaining in the skies above them. Among the many killed were all the senior officers of the Irish Guards but the stoic nature of the survivors, despite the horror unfolding around them, was praised by all who witnessed the disaster. Remarkably, the battalion continued to see active service in Norway until the decision was taken to evacuate in June 1940.
Ernest was based in the UK for several years after returning from Norway, training for further active service. For some time he was based at a temporary barracks at Sanderstead – a mile or two from Croydon and just a little further from the Guards Depot at Caterham in Surrey that he probably knew well. Perhaps it was while he was based at Caterham, before the war, that he met his wife-to-be, Olive Wheatland. She’d been born in Croydon on 25 May 1922 to William Wheatland and his wife Elizabeth and lived in Haling Road there with her parents.
Olive and Ernest married on 18 January 1941 at Croydon Register Office and around nine months later their first child, my mum, was born.
It wasn’t until early in 1943 that the 1st Battalion was sent abroad again, landing in Tunisia to join the North Africa campaign. They saw action in particular at Djebel bou Aoukaz, where fighting lasted for days as the force attempted to secure an important ridge. Casualties were heavy.
In December 1943 the 1st Battalion sailed for Italy, taking part in the Anzio landings that met with severe opposition from enemy forces. Still, they fought on and saw action at Carroceto and Campoleone but again the battalion suffered heavy casualties. At one point they were almost surrounded by German forces and had to fight their way through to Allied lines. By April, the 1st Battalion was so devastated by losses that the decision was taken to order the survivors home.
In the UK the battalion moved north to Scotland in June of 1944 and were based for a time near Hawick and Edinburgh, where much time was devoted to training other forces. Mum recalls her and nanny lodging in a house nearby, so they could be close to Ernest.
On leaving the army, his military conduct was recorded as exemplary. He was described as an excellent driver with a very good knowledge of mechanics, and as honest, hard working and trustworthy. He received the War Medal, the Africa Star with 1st Army Clasp, The Italy Star, the Defence Medal and the 1939-45 Star. After his wartime experiences though, it was not surprising that his daughter recalled him having nightmares and sometimes withdrawing into himself.
Olive and Ernest lived at 2 Napier Road in South Croydon. They raised a family and he worked as a bus driver for the British airline BOAC. I remember the little yard with the outside toilet there, and the front room of the two-up two-down that was only used for special occasions.
He would often travel back to Northern Ireland to see his family but I have only a few memories of him, most of them to do with Christmas get-togethers and family holidays such as in Combe Martin, Devon. Tragically, he fell seriously ill in 1969 and died on 16 July at Guys Hospital in London from a severe chest infection and acute kidney failure. He was just 51.
Nanny remarried. Read more about her life here.
Ernest and Olive had three children:
- Living – my mother (1941-
- Janet Moore (1945-2025)
- David John Moore (1947-1994)
Sources:
Family memories.
Birth, marriage, death records including civil registrations from the General Register Office, census returns and other records at Ancestry.co.uk, Findmypast.co.uk and FamilySearch.org.
Ernest Moore’s military record received by family from Ministry of Defence.
1st Battalion Irish Guards war diary at National Archives but transcribed and made available online.